Welcome to Refreshing Bread and our series, “The Mission of the Church Today”. Here is Father Calin Tamiian.

This is Father Calin Tamiian again welcoming you to the series “The Mission of the Church Today”.

We’re going to speak about liturghia. Liturghia is a Greek word that speaks about the praise and the worship that we are due to God. We use the word in English as liturgy both in East and West as a modality to name all those beautiful rituals that we are presenting as we sanctify the people of God. But liturghia goes much deeper than just those rituals and praises that we see in the public marketplace or in our churches. Liturghia is the way in which we exhibit or piety first individually and then as a Community of Faith, as the body of Christ.

And when I speak about piety in my tradition as a Byzantine Catholic priest I merely go to my first image in my childhood of my grandmothers and the women in the villages in the Carpathian Mountains I grew up in. I remember the way in which they entered the church. Everything was so gracious, everything was speaking of a presence in the spirit, and even though often their theology was probably lacking a lot of understanding, their hearts were singing, their body was praising, and their mind was focused on one thing - to give thanks publicly to their presence in the Liturgy, to the deep gratefulness and reverence they had for God. So, liturgy for us needs to start the same way: wherever we are and wherever the Spirit of God brings us to witness to him to proclaim the good news, again it's not just the level of our words and our attitude towards the world, but it needs to come from a deep spiritual life. For that I often remind people if we eat several times a day and sometimes we would like to snack between the meals, do we pray likewise? Because as we need food and water to take care of our bodies we also need the exercise of piety in the praises that we bring to God who is the source and the author of all our lives. For that, what is your practice of liturghia today? How do you praise the one who doesn't need anything else from us, but just a deep heartfelt and bodily expressed thank you.

When I’m thinking of the importance of liturghia, this story comes to mind. It is said that during the Russian Revolution of 1917, there was a group of monks living in a monastery. The commander of the Communist Party in that area decided to make an example out of them. Supposedly the monks were all fat and enjoying a good life. So he thought it would be an easy target to point out to the crowds that really religion has no power. And for that he brought out the crucifix from inside the monastery and asked the monks to spit on it and to step on it if they want to save the lives. An interesting thing happened right there in front of all the people. Under the pressure of such persecution the abbot looked at his brothers and said “Brothers, even though we had lived in the past in no accordance with the world of God, today it's important for us to witness to his presence among us”. And instead of spitting or trampling over the crucifix he bowed down and worshiped it, thus, a beautiful sign of the power of liturghia. This story ends with the fact that each and every single one of those monks ended up dying that day, but they died as Saints. And the Liturgy is the way in which the saints come together to worship and to witness and to work in the vineyard of the Lord every day of our lives.

This is the end of episode 2 in the series “The Mission of the Church Today”. Refreshing bread is a production of the Romanian Catholic Diocese, Eparchy St George in Canton, Ohio. Today's episode was offered by Father Calin Tamiian. Our editing and technical support is cared for by Mr. Raul Botha. Thank you so much for listening.

"Fear not, little flock." So go the words of Jesus from the Gospel of St. Luke (12:32) which I chose as the motto for my episcopal ministry twenty-one years ago. Perhaps, now, thinking about my motto, you might be tempted to ask, "Why not be afraid? We live in frightening times!" And indeed, the world seems a scarier place than it did this time last year, or even six months ago, or perhaps even last week, as we tumble headlong into a kind of national and global chaos, unfamiliar to us and full of foreboding and dread. And there certainly is no lack of the "principalities and powers" of which St. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, willing and able to feed off of our fear, to make use of this fear in ways that seem able to threaten the very existence of the human race.

"Fear not, little flock." In this season of long nights and cold days, I find it comforting to remember these words of the Master as he advised His disciples to depend totally on God. We cannot look to the unstable, transitory powers of this world to provide us with the security we need to live a life worthy of the name "human." Instead, we need look no further than a simple manger in a dark cave in Bethlehem for the answer to all of our questions and the solution to all of our problems. In that manger lies the very mystery of Emmanuel, God-With-Us.

But we must look into that manger ourselves; no one can gaze into it for us and see what we would see. Still, this much is certain: that Manger is not empty. When we look into it, it is the very eyes of God looking back at us with unconditional love and everlasting mercy. He says we are safe with Him, and I believe Him.

May you too know the security and peace that comes from knowing Jesus this Christmas.

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca meditates upon the simple but often forgotten truth: Jesus has come to call sinners and heal them. Those who are well are not in need of healing. Since we are all sinners in one way or another, Jesus calls us, you and me. How do we respond to his call?
In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca
Mark 2:14-17
Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca reminds us that dishonesty equates victims. In contrast, God is fair and right and expects the same from us. God is perfects and expects us to be perfect. Loves honesty and integrity and will bless us if we are just and fair.
Proverbs 10:31 – 11:12
Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca makes an insightful analogy: imagine receiving two invitations to dine at different restaurants. The first is in the best restaurant in town, the second is a place almost shut down by the health inspector. Which one will you accept? Similarly, in our reading wisdom’s invitation to humanity is to a banquet at her house, with best food and drinks, great people and all are welcome. Foolishness, invites humanity to a different kind of meal – stolen food, eaten in secret; death is her guest. Which one will you choose?
Proverbs 9:12 - 9:18
Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Podcast Summary

Refreshing Bread provides daily meditations from the Bible to inspire, encourage and share spiritual food with others. Refreshing Bread is a production of the Romanian Catholic Diocese in Canton, Ohio.